ELTEKE(H)

(Elʹte·ke[h]).

A city of Dan (Jos 19:44) given, with its pasture ground, to the Kohathite Levites. (Jos 21:20, 23) On the Taylor Prism, Assyrian King Sennacherib (a contemporary of Hezekiah, 745-717 B.C.E.) boasts that he “besieged, captured, and sacked Eltekeh [Assyrian, Altaqu]” after defeating Egyptian and Ethiopian forces “upon the plain of Eltekeh.”

Most scholars formerly placed Eltekeh at Khirbet el-Muqannaʽ (Tel Miqne), 36 km (22 mi) W of Jerusalem. However, as a result of recent excavations, that site has since been connected with Biblical Ekron. Thus, while no certain identification is now possible, some tentatively locate Eltekeh at Tell esh-Shallaf (Tel Shalaf), 18 km (11 mi) NE of Ashdod.